


The Moment Before the Fall (Letting Go)

by A_Zap



Series: All Roads Lead to This [26]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Catra introspection, Day 26: Letting Go, Don't copy to another site, Episode 11: Promise, Femslash February, Gen, Technically this is based on their platonic relationship they have in canon so far, but if you want to make it a romantic interpretation then go ahead, catradora, it's kinda a weird gray area
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-11-06 08:20:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17936195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Zap/pseuds/A_Zap
Summary: In honor of what they had in the past, Catra will protect Adora one final time. It won't be easy and Adora would probably hate her even more if she found out her reasoning, but it was for the best of both of them.Catra was going to let Adora go.Femslash February Day 26: Letting Go





	The Moment Before the Fall (Letting Go)

Catra hated this place. If she didn’t know better, she would say that this temple had some sort of sentience, because it seemed intent on shoving some of her most painful memories in her face. Even the nice moments, the moments of laughter and fun, just served to twist the knife deeper when the bad moments came.

And the first promise that Catra and Adora had ever made was quite frankly the worst of them all. Once upon a time, it had been her most cherished memory.

Now it was tarnished by Adora’s failure to stand by it.

Catra almost scoffed as she watched her younger self take comfort in a promise that would never be fulfilled. After all, how many times had she taken the fall for Adora? How many times had she been punished simply because she was the one closest to Adora? How many times had Adora left her behind?

And how many times had Adora done the same for her?

Sure, her presence had prevented her from being killed, but what else had it done?

Catra had always been aware that something was off between them. Maybe not fully conscious of the full extent of things, but she’d at least known that things weren’t fair by how they were treated by their superiors. And now she could see that things had been just as unfair within their friendship as well.

She’d given Adora so much, but exactly how much had she gotten in return?

Maybe just caring for each other wasn’t enough anymore.

Something had to change.

But what?

Catra felt eyes on her and turned to see her younger self staring right at her, as if she could actually see her. It shot through her, steadied something, shifted something into place. The still somewhat innocent eyes hardened Catra’s resolve.

And then her younger self ran off after Adora, just like she always did. The moment was gone.

But as darkness fell, Catra came to a decision.

For the sake of old times, Catra would protect Adora  _ one _ more time.

What she had to do was necessary. How she could fulfill it would hurt. But this was the best way to protect them both.

Catra was going to let Adora go.

The bond between them had already hurt them both so much… Catra for a long time and Adora now were suffering because of their connection and it had to stop.

Plus, they were on opposite sides of a war. Since Adora left, Catra had actually been thriving, and Scorpia and Entrapta seemed to like her without feeling a need to treat her like a sidekick. And things for Adora seemed like it was all sunshine and daisies over in Princess Land.

But if things between them remained as they were, if Adora kept reaching for her with those big eyes and sappy speeches, if Catra tried to cling to Adora like she had in the past…

They would inevitably drag each other down.

They were only in this mess because they were with each other. This temple or whatever was made for She-ra, aka Adora. Nothing would’ve gone wrong if Catra hadn’t shown up. Maybe things would work like they should if she wasn’t here anymore. She highly doubted that anything here would seriously kill Adora.

Long story short, they needed to let the other go.

Catra knew that Adora was stubborn though. Once she got something in her head, she’d refuse to let it go. Case in point, she had refused to let the thought of a sword in the middle of the woods go, and now look at where they were.

So Catra was going to have to make her.

Catra was going to have to make Adora hate her. Maybe pour out some of the vitriol that had been building up all these years to make it believable and to get it off her chest. Two birds, one stone. And if Adora hated her then she wouldn’t hesitate any more in fighting her. They could finally be equals even as they fought on opposite sides.

It was for the best.

Adora probably wouldn’t see it as Catra protecting her.

That was fine.

Adora would just hate her more.

Catra steeled herself as she heard the sounds of battle up ahead.

One final time would she protect Adora.

And then she’d let go and let their bond break.

_ This is for the best. _

**Author's Note:**

> AN: Okay, so I've been reading some meta lately, and there's at least one thing people seem to agree on: Light Hope is super shady.
> 
> Like in Promise, it seriously seems like the memories are targeting Catra. They are showing her moments where Adora didn't really fulfill their promise, where she felt second best, reminding her of how crappy things had been for her when Adora was in the Horde. And then it shoved their promise in her face (which Adora had broken), and Catra was pushed over the edge. Basically, the entire memory sequence/temple seemed to be pushing to make Catra let Adora go, because Light Hope knew that Adora wouldn't do it willingly. Considering the simulation really began breaking down when Catra made her decision and Light Hope finally showed up when Catra left seems to drive that point home.
> 
> And another meta I found raised the theory that Catra purposefully let Adora go/said all that stuff to try to make Adora hate her to protect her. Specifically, to protect her from Catra herself. I mean, they are on opposite sides, so if either of them hesitate it could easily be curtains for them. And hatred can be a powerful motivator to fight someone. Anyway, I kind of combined those two ideas here.
> 
> Also, I know some people go "omg Catra practically threw Adora off a cliff" as proof of how broken things are between them, but things were broken long before then. And Adora falling off the cliff didn't really end up hurting her, and I think Catra knew that. The temple was made for She-ra -> nothing even went wrong until Catra showed up -> besides when the spiders attacked Adora to prevent her from seeing the promise scene, they only ever really targeted Catra -> as long as Catra wasn't around, the temple probably wouldn't hurt Adora. Physically at least. Next time we see her she's having an Alice in Wonderland moment rather than falling. And Catra knew it wouldn't really be that bad as she wasn't even surprised to see Adora at Bright Moon later.
> 
> Anyway, I know this note is super long, but Light Hope just clangs my warning bells as being a manipulator during this episode and the next, but then again the whole "let go of attachments" thing has been sketchy to me since I saw the original Star Wars trilogy as a toddler.


End file.
